Russia announces decision to join AIIB

BOAO, Hainan - Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov said Saturday Russia decided to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the latest country to join as application deadline draws close.

He made the announcement at the 2015 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia in the coastal town of China's southern island province of Hainan.

UK and Switzerland follow Brazil to China-backed Asia investment bank

SHANGHAI/RIO DE JANEIRO - China's Finance Ministry said on Saturday that the UK and Switzerland had been formally accepted as founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a day after Brazil accepted China's invitation to join the AIIB.

China's Finance Ministry said that Austria had also applied to join, and has submitted its documents to China.

"We should push forward with the creation of a regional hub for financial co-operation," said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday at a forum in Boao on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

China should "strengthen pragmatic cooperation in monetary stability, investment, financing, credit rating and other fields," Xi added.

Brazil, China's top trading partner, said on Friday it would join the AIIB and that there were no conditions set for joining.

"Brazil is very interested in participating in this initiative," the office of President Dilma Rousseff said in a short statement on Friday.

AIIB's founding members have increased to 30, according to China's Finance Ministry statement.

The United States had warned against the new institution but its European allies Britain, France, Germany and Italy announced this month they would join the bank, leading the US administration to reassess its stance.